Preloader



A ril 1, 1952 A. M KCNE 2,591,180

PRELOADER Filed Aug. 9, 1947 Patented Apr. 1 1952 PRELOADER Archie McKone, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Application August 9, 1947, Serial No. 767,672 In Canada June 14, 1947 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a preloader particularly for logs, but which may be used for other articles.

As the timber is being continuously cut, it has been necessary to move it away from the bodies of water which are used to transport the logs to desired points, usually mills. It is now necessary to haul the logs by suitable carrier, such as trucks and trailers, to the water. This equipment is very costly as it must be built to stand up under very heavy loads and to operate on rough roads. At present, the logs are loaded directly on to the carriers. This means that the equipment is not in use during the loading procedure and the driver is idle. Furthermore, the equipment is often damaged during loading,

An object of the present invention is the provision of a device whereby the logs may be made up into a load before the carrier arrives to haul it away.

Another object is the provision of a log preloader in which the great weight of the load does not hinder its operation but assists it.

A further object is the provision of a log preloader on which the logs may be properly tied together, and requiring very little manual operation for the loading.

Still another object is the provision of a device of the nature described which eliminates the necessity for the carrier to wait for its load, and reduces the possibility of the carrier being damaged when receiving its load.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists essentially of a log preloader comprising a pair of supports spaced apart to permit a log carrier to be moved therebetween, a bearer mounted on each support movable towards and away from the ground, said bearers being adapted to support a logging bunk extending transversely thereof, and means for releasably retaining the bearers in their upper positions, said bearers being movable downwardly to deposit the bunk after it is loaded on to a 10s carrier, as more fully described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of one form of preloader,

Figure 2 is a plan view of this device,

Figure 3 is an end elevation thereof,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail showing a log bunk on a carrier.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatical side elevation of an alternative form of preloader,

Figure 6 is a partial end elevation of another alternative, and l Figure 7 is a side elevation of the alternative of Figure 6.

Referring more particularly to Figures 1 to 3, a pair of supporting tracks Ill are parallel to each other and are spaced apart on opposite sides of a runway sufficiently to permit a log carrier (shown in dotted lines) to be moved therebetween. These tracks are arranged in tandem with another pair of supporting parallel tracks I I spaced apart the same distance. The upper surface of each of the supporting tracks slopes downwardly from one end to the other. It will be noted that all the slopes are exactly the same and the high ends of the track H are adjacent the lower ends of the tracks ID.

A bearer block 15 is slidably mounted upon each of the supporting tracks in any suitable manner. These bearer blocks are identical and each is formed with an upper horizontal surface IS with a positioning pin ll projecting upwardly therefrom. Each bearer block is also formed with a suitable latch 20 at one end thereof for releasably holding it in its upper position on its tracks.

The bearer blocks of each pair of supporting tracks are adapted to support a log bunk 23 extending transversely of the tracks. The bunks are provided with recesses in their lower surfaces adapted to fit over the pins l I. These bunks are of the type normally used on log carriers and each has a pin 24 extending downwardly therefrom substantially midway between its ends.

In use, a bunk 23 is positioned on the bearer blocks [5 of each pair of supporting tracks, said blocks being held in their upper positions by latches 20. The logs are loaded on to the bunks and chained in position in the usual manner. This work can be done properly and without undue speed, since the log carrier need not be Waiting during this operation. When the load is completed, a carrier can be moved into position between the tracks in and H, suitable sto s (not shown) being provided in order to ensure a carrier being positioned in its proper place. When the latches 2B are released, the bearer blocks slide down the tracks it, the weight of the load assisting and not interfering with this movement. Eventually the bearer blocks move below the upper level of the carrier so that the bunks 23 rest thereon.

Figure 4 diagrammatically shows part of a carrier which has a funnel-shaped recess 28 leading to a smaller recess 29 formed in the platform 30 of the carrier. As each bunk approaches the carrier, its pin 24 enters the recess 28 and is directed into the recess 29, thus positioning the load properly on the carrier.

' being filled with air under pressure.

Figure 5 shows an alternative form of the invention. In this alternative, four bearers 35 are provided in place of the bearer blocks l5. One only of these bearers is illustrated in this figure, but it is to be understood that the four of them are positioned relative to each other the same as the bearer blocks I5. Each bearer 35 is mounted on a support 36 which, in this case, is a vertical hydraulic cylinder having a ram 3'! projecting outwardly from its upper end. The bearer is actually carried on the outer end of the ram. This bearer has a positioning pin 33 projecting upwardly from its upper surface.

A reservoir 40 is filled with oil up to a level indicated at 4|, the remainder of said reservoir This pressure need not be very great. A pipe 42 leads from the bottom of the reservoir do to a control valve 43, while another pipe 44 extends from said valve to the hydraulic cylinder 35.

Assuming that the bearers 35 are in their lower jpositions when the valves 43 are opened, the compressed air in the reservoirs 4Q forces oilinto the hydraulic cylinders 36 to urge therams 3'! outwardly which, in turn, raises the bearers 35 on which the log bunks 23 are positioned. Then the control valve is closed creating hydraulic locks which retain the bearers and bunks in their upper positions.

The bunks may now be loaded in the usual :manner. After a log carrier has been moved into position between the bearers and beneath the load bunks, it is only necessary to open the control valve to allow the rams and bearers to move downwardly under the weight of the load. This .zforces oil out of the cylinders 35 back into the reservoirs 40 to compress the air therein back .to the original pressure. Thus the apparatus is .ready to repeat the operation.

Wh-ile one reservoir M] has been shown for each bearer 35 and its associated elements, it will be understood that only one reservoir may be used with four branch pipes extending from the control valve to the hydraulic cylinder of each of the bearers.

Figures 6 and 7 illustrate another alternative in which each bearer consists of a post 58 pivotally mounted at its lower end on a pin 5i carried by a vertical supporting member 52. This supporting member preferably is U-shaped in crosssection and mounted on a suitable base, such as a concrete foundation 53. Another pin 54 removably extends through the sides of the supporting member and the bearer post near the top of the former. This bearer post also has a positioning pin 55 on its upper end.

In this example, the bearer posts and associated elemenst are located with respect to each other in the same manner as the bearer blocks l5 of Figures 1 to 3. The logging bunks 23 are placed across corresponding pairs of bearer posts and loaded as previously described. When the log carrier is moved into position. beneath the bunks, the pins 54 are withdrawn so that the upper ends of the bearer posts are free to move towards the 6 ground. This deposits the bunks with their load upon the carrier. Once the loaded carrier moves away from the loading device, the upper ends of the bearer posts may be moved away from the ground into their uppermost positions, at which time the [pins 54 are inserted to hold them in position.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A log preloader comprising a pair of tracks extending parallel to each other, and spaced apart to permit a log carrier to be moved there between, said tracks sloping from one end to the other, bearer means slidably mounted on the tracks adapted to support a logging bunk extending transversely of the tracks, and means for releasably retaining the bearer means at the upper ends of the tracks, said bearer means being slidable down the tracks to deposit the bunk after it is loaded on a carrier.

2. A log preloader comprising a pair of tracks extending parallel to each other, and spaced apart to permit a log carrier to be moved therebetween, said tracks sloping from one end to the other, an independent bearer slidable on each track, said bearers being adapted to support a logging bunk extending transversely of the tracks, and means for releasably retaining the bearers at the upper ends of the tracks, said bearers being slidable down the tracks to deposit the bunk after it is loaded on a carrier.

3. A log preloader comprising two pairs of tracks arranged in tandem, the tracks of each pair being parallel to each other and spaced apart to permit a log carrier to be moved therebetween, and each pair of tracks sloping from one end to the other, bearer means slidably mounted on each pair of tracks adapted to support logging bunks extending transversely of the tracks, and means for releasably retaining the bearer means at the upper ends of the tracks, said bearer means being slidable down the tracks to deposit the bunks after being loaded on to a log carrier.

4. A log preloader comprising two pairs of tracks arranged in tandem, the tracks of each pair being parallel to each other and spaced apart to permit a log carrier to be moved therebetween, and each pair of tracks sloping from one end to the other, an independent bearer slidably mounted on each track, the bearersof each pair of tracks being adapted to support a logging bunk extending transversely of the tracks, and means for releasably retaining the bearers of the upper ends of the tracks, said bearers being slidable down the tracks to deposit the bunks after being loaded on to a log carrier.

ARCHIE McKONE.

REFERENES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,646,759 McCall Oct. 25, 1927 2,069,236 Fitch Feb. 2, 1937 2,117,067 Ludington May'l0, 1938 2,342,344 Hunter Feb. 22, 1944 

